Pages

Monday, July 21, 2014

In Defense of Trophy Hunting

I’m not a hunter, but I’m tempted to become one just to
stand in solidarity with people – young women especially – who have recently
become the targets themselves of vile anti-hunting hysteria.

First, a 19-year-old Texas Tech cheerleader named Kendall
Jones roused a firestorm of social media anger after posting on Facebook pics
of her posed with her legally acquired big game trophies. After taking heat
from accusations of animal cruelty, Jones replied,
“The rhino was a green hunt, meaning it was darted and immobilized in order to
draw blood for testing, DNA profiling, microchipping the horn and treating a
massive leg injury most likely caused by lions.” A lion she brought down
with a bow (!) was within a game reserve: “Controlling the male lion population
is important within large fenced areas like these in order to make sure the
cubs have a high survival rate.”

As for the leopard pic, “this was a free ranging leopard in
Zimbabwe on communal land,” Jones wrote. “The money for the permit goes to the
communal council and to their village people... Leopard populations have to be
controlled in certain areas. So yes, my efforts do go to conservation efforts
and are all fair chase, not canned hunts.”

She also explained that meat from some hunts feeds local villagers:

And for all that want to say stuff
about hunting is for food all the other animals go to the local villagers that
are just trying to get meat! These people only get meat when an animal is shot,
they aren’t privileged enough to go to the local grocery store and pay $20 for
some steaks! And another thing is that this elephant’s trunk had been caught in
a snare put out by poachers!

Nevertheless, predictable internet outrage continued. Facebook
removed the pics after tens of thousands of complaints. She was verbally
assaulted on social media. One lunatic who fancies himself a future Congressman
(I won’t mention his name because he’s a pathetic attention hound) even claimed
that “she deserves to be a target” and offered $100,000 for nude photos of
Jones or other salacious information. “Does #KendallJones use vegetables as sex
toys?” he tweeted. “Does she enjoy being spanked? We want to know.”

Next, a 17-year-old Belgian soccer fan named Axelle
Despiegelaere, who actually scored a modeling gig with L’Oreal after becoming
the focus of World Cup attention, immediately lost
that gig when her hunting photos
showed up on Facebook. Again the social media hatred flew, and she was labeled “evil”
and a “serial killer.” After the teen appeared in a promo video which has since
been removed from the company’s website, L’Oreal claimed that her “contract has
now been completed” and she will no longer be representing the company. Then it
felt compelled to pacify animal activists further by reminding them that
L’Oreal “no longer tests on animals, anywhere in the world.”

I hope Despiegelaere gets picked up for another contract
elsewhere. If a modeling company and its customers are so concerned about
politically correct objections to the disgusting habits of their
representatives, perhaps they should demand that their models stop smoking
(insert record scratch). Watch how fast that shuts down the entire fashion
industry.

The hysteria reached, well, hysterical proportions when an
old photo
surfaced on Facebook of a grinning Steven Spielberg posed in front of an
apparently freshly killed triceratops
– from the set of Jurassic Park. That
attracted anti-hunting ire as well. One
Facebooker ranted (language warning):

He’s a disgusting inhumane prick Id
love to see these hunters be stopped…I think zoos are the best way to keep
these innocent animals safe…assholes like this piece of s**t are going into
these beautiful animals HOME and killing them…its no different than someone
coming into your home and murdering you … . Steven Spielberg I’m disappointed
in you…I’m not watching any of your movies again ANIMAL KILLER

Recently I took my young daughter to Los Angeles’ Natural
History Museum, which has an extensive and dramatic collection of dinosaur
relics. She isn’t familiar with Spielberg, but she loves triceratops, and even at four years old she knows that
they’re long extinct.

I appreciate that many are
disgusted by trophy hunting; it’s certainly not my thing. But whatever your
stand, the teens mentioned above hunted legally and even socially and
environmentally responsibly. They and others don’t deserve to be the “targets”
of irrational personal attacks or to lose jobs for which hunting isn’t even relevant.

About Me

Mark is the editor of TruthRevolt and a Shillman Journalism Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center. He writes about culture and politics for Acculturated, FrontPage Magazine, The Federalist, The New Criterion, and elsewhere. He has made television appearances on CNN, Glenn Beck and elsewhere, as well as many radio and public appearances.
Mark has worked on numerous films including co-writing the award-winning documentary “Jihad in America: The Grand Deception.”
He is currently adapting a book for the big screen and writing one of his own for Templeton Press.